Gilded Age railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt would be wealthier than Jeff Bezos if he were alive today. His grandson built the Breakers.

Real estate tycoon Henry Flagler named the hotel The Breakers because his hotel guests kept requesting rooms “by the breakers”—the place where the Atlantic breaks on the shoreline.

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The Gilded Age took cues from Alva Vanderbilt’s 1883 ball, which “was the most extravagant affair of its kind America had ever seen.”

The Breakers in newport

Now operated as house museums by The Preservation Society of Newport County, three of the mansions—Marble House, The Elms, and The Breakers—reach their peak glory in the colder months. As soon as the seasons change, they transform into winter wonderlands for Christmas at the Newport Mansions.

Experience palatial living at the Breakers in Newport, RI. Built for Cornelius Vanderbilt (1893-1895), it is the grandest of the "cottages."